This blog offers resources for 2016 LDS Gospel Doctrine teachers and students, focusing on the context of the scriptures, including geography and historicity. Much of the material comes from these books: Moroni's America, The Lost City of Zarahemla, Brought to Light, and Letter VII: Oliver Cowdery's Message to the World about the Hill Cumorah.

The revealed text

The light of revelation at the Whitmer farm where Joseph and Oliver worked upstairs to finish translating the Book of Mormon

Monday, January 18, 2016

Overview handout

2016 Gospel Doctrine –

Book of Mormon Study Guide supplements from

Moroni’s America

When we read the scriptures, it is fun and useful to think
about the people in a real-world context. Many people visit Israel and the
surrounding areas because of the Bible. It is striking how the Old Testament
setting is also the setting for much of the New Testament. Many people also
visit Church history sites for the same reason.

But what about the Book of Mormon?

As we learn more about what Joseph and Oliver Cowdery said,
and what the text itself says, we discover that when we visited Church history
sites in New York, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri, we were also visiting Book of Mormon sites. We just didn’t know it.

Unlike the Bible, the Book of Mormon does not refer to places
we recognize in modern times. Instead, we look to modern revelation, where
there are scriptural references to the two most important places in the Book of
Mormon: Cumorah and Zarahemla. The basic overview for Book of Mormon geography
is right in the Doctrine and Covenants!

- Zarahemla, because two cultures joined there: the Nephites and the
Mulekites. The text refers to Zarahemla far more than to any other site. Where
is it? See D&C 125:3.

- Cumorah, because both civilizations ended there: the Nephites and
the Jaredites. Where is it?

See D&C 128:20 and Oliver Cowdery’s Letter VII.

D&C 125 and 128 have been overlooked because overzealous
missionaries in 1842, including Benjamin Winchester, thought it would be a good
idea to shift the focus to the exotic ruins in Central America. For Joseph
Smith, building the temple and preparing the Church for his death, while also
avoiding imprisonment and a host of legal problems, dominated his thinking and
energy. Besides, he had already told people the locations of Cumorah, the
plains of the Nephites, Zelph, Manti, and the New Jerusalem.

Think of
Zarahemla and Cumorah as pins in the map. Then you quickly get a picture of
Book of Mormon geography.

The border between the Nephites and the Lamanites was the “narrow
strip of wilderness” and both the land of Zarahemla (Nephite territory) and the land of Nephi
(Lamanite territory) were “nearly surrounded by water.” Alma 22. It says water, not ocean or sea. Therefore,
the border between them had to be water, with a “small neck of land” between
them. Only a river can be both “water”
and a “narrow strip of wilderness.” The rivers in North America (the Missouri,
Mississippi, Ohio, and Allegheny Rivers) are a perfect fit. And the small neck
of land between them—where the river border ended—is not far from Cumorah,
which helps explain why Cumorah was strategically important.

There are a lot of geographic details in the Book of Mormon,
but with the aid of latter-day revelation and the statements of Joseph Smith
and Oliver Cowdery, it becomes apparent where the Book of Mormon took place.
There is a detailed analysis of the geography verses, in chronological order,
in Moroni’s America. The Lost City of
Zarahemla and Brought to Light
explain the Church history aspects. And Letter
VII: Oliver Cowdery’s Message to the World about the Hill Cumorah explains
what he and Joseph knew about Moroni and Cumorah.

Follow by Email

Objective and resources

This blog uses the 2016 Gospel Doctrine lessons to look at the Book of Mormon from a faithful perspective, based on a careful analysis of the text and real-world settings. I'm particularly interested in what the text has to say about the location of Book of Mormon events and other aspects of historicity.

Translate

Book of Mormon sites I like

About Me

I like the way Daft Punk wear robot suits in public. I'd rather focus on the music than the personalities. Same with Internet discussions; I'd rather focus on the information and the logic of the arguments than the personalities. That said, people want to know I'm a real person, so here's a photo of me at the UN in New York.